36.115(5)(a)(a) The personnel systems developed under subs. (2) and (3) shall be implemented on July 1, 2015.

36.115(5)(b)(b) The board may not implement the personnel system developed under sub. (2) unless it has been approved by the joint committee on employment relations. This paragraph does not apply to revisions made under sub. (8) (b).

36.115(5)(c)(c) The chancellor may not implement the personnel system developed under sub. (3) unless it has been approved by the joint committee on employment relations. This paragraph does not apply to revisions made under sub. (8) (b).

36.115(6)(6) All system employees holding positions in the classified or unclassified service of the civil service system under ch. 230 on June 30, 2015, shall be included in the personnel systems developed under subs. (2) and (3). System employees holding positions in the classified service on June 30, 2015, who have achieved permanent status in class on that date, shall retain, while serving in the positions in the system, those protections afforded employees in the classified service under ss. 230.34 (1) (a) and 230.44 (1) (c) relating to demotion, suspension, discharge, layoff, or reduction in base pay. Such employees shall also have reinstatement privileges to the classified service as provided under s. 230.31 (1). System employees holding positions in the classified service on June 30, 2015, who have not achieved permanent status in class on that date are eligible to receive the protections, privileges, and rights preserved under this subsection if they successfully complete service equivalent to the probationary period required in the classified service for the positions which they hold on that date.

36.115(7)(7) Except as provided in sub. (8), the board shall establish and maintain consistent employment relations policies and practices for all system employees except system employees assigned to the University of Wisconsin-Madison, and the chancellor shall establish and maintain consistent employment relations policies and practices for all system employees assigned to the University of Wisconsin-Madison.

36.115(8)(a)(a) No later than January 1, 2018, the board shall develop and implement a plan that includes all of the following for each institution within the system, including the University of Wisconsin-Madison:

36.115(8)(a)1.1. Policies for monitoring teaching workloads of faculty and instructional academic staff, including requirements for individual faculty and instructional academic staff members to report the number of hours spent teaching to the system administration.

36.115(8)(a)2.2. Policies for rewarding faculty and instructional academic staff who teach more than a standard academic load.

36.115(8)(b)(b) The board and the chancellor shall revise the personnel systems developed under subs. (2) and (3) and the employment relations policies and practices established under sub. (7) as necessary to ensure that the systems, policies, and practices are consistent with the plan required under par. (a).

36.12(1)(1) No student may be denied admission to, participation in or the benefits of, or be discriminated against in any service, program, course or facility of the system or its institutions because of the student's race, color, creed, religion, sex, national origin, disability, ancestry, age, sexual orientation, pregnancy, marital status or parental status.

36.12(2)(a)(a) The board shall direct each institution to establish policies and procedures to protect students from discrimination under sub. (1). The policies and procedures shall do all of the following:

36.12(2)(a)3.3. Require a complainant to file a complaint with the institution within 300 days of the alleged violation of sub. (1).

36.12(2)(a)4.4. Provide periods within which the complainant and the institution must act for each procedural step leading to the issuance of a final decision and for appeal of the final decision to the chancellor of the institution.

36.12(2)(b)(b) The board shall establish policies and procedures for the appeal of the chancellor's or dean's decision to the board.

36.12 Annotation
The exclusion of contraceptives from an employer or college or university sponsored benefits program that otherwise provides prescription drug coverage violates Wisconsin law prohibiting sex discrimination in employment and in higher education, ss. 111.31 to 111.395, 36.12, and 38.23. OAG 1-04.

36.12 Annotation
Student body diversity is a compelling state interest that can justify the use of race in university admissions. A race-conscious admissions program cannot use a quota system, but may consider race or ethnicity as a plus factor for an applicant, without insulating the individual from comparison with all other candidates for the available seats. An admissions program must be flexible enough to consider all pertinent elements of diversity in light of the particular qualifications of each applicant, and to place them on the same footing for consideration, although not necessarily according them the same weight. Race-conscious admissions policies must be limited in time. Grutter v. Bollinger, 539 U.S. 306, 123 S. Ct. 2325 (2003). See also Gratz v. Bollinger, 539 U.S. 244, 156 L. Ed. 2d 304, 123 S. Ct. 2411 (2003).

36.12 Annotation
Under Grutter, strict scrutiny must be applied to any university admissions program using racial categories or classifications. Once the university has established that its goal of diversity is consistent with strict scrutiny, however, there must still be a further judicial determination that the admissions process meets strict scrutiny in its implementation. The university must prove that the means chosen by the university to attain diversity are narrowly tailored to that goal. Strict scrutiny imposes on the university the ultimate burden of demonstrating, before turning to racial classifications, that available, workable race-neutral alternatives do not suffice. Grutter did not hold that good faith would forgive an impermissible consideration of race. Fisher v. University of Texas at Austin, 570 U.S. ___, 133 S. Ct. 2411, 186 L. Ed. 2d 474 (2013). See also Fisher v. University of Texas at Austin 579 U. S. ____ (2016).

36.14(1)(1) The board may establish distinguished professorships under this section.

36.14(2)(2) The board may pay under this section the salary and fringe benefit costs of the professor holding the distinguished professorship and of any graduate assistant assigned to the professor, and the equipment, supplies and travel costs of the professor and the graduate assistants assigned to the professor.

36.14(4)(4) The board shall ensure that at least 3 of the professors awarded distinguished professorships under this section after August 9, 1989, are not employed by the board when they are awarded the professorships.

36.15(1)(a)(a) “Administrative appointment" means an academic staff appointment for a fixed or indefinite term granted to a system, campus, college, school or other divisional officer involved in policy development or execution and to persons involved in directing, organizing or supervising higher education related activities.

36.15(1)(b)(b) “Professional appointment" means an academic staff appointment for a fixed or indefinite term granted to a professional employee who is involved in the guidance or counseling of students, assisting the faculty in research, public service or in the instruction of students or who is involved in other professional duties which are primarily associated with institutions of higher education; including, but not limited to, such employment titles as visiting faculty, clinical staff, lecturer, scientist, specialist and such other equivalent titles as the board approves.

36.15(2)(2)Appointments. Appointments under this section shall be made by the board, or by an appropriate official authorized by the board, under policies and procedures established by the board. The policies for indefinite appointments shall provide for a probationary period, permanent status and such other conditions of appointment as the board establishes.

36.15(3)(3)Procedural guarantees. A person having an academic staff appointment for a term may be dismissed prior to the end of the appointment term only for just cause and only after due notice and hearing. A person having an academic staff appointment for an indefinite term who has attained permanent status may be dismissed only for just cause and only after due notice and hearing. In such matters the action and decision of the board, or the appropriate official authorized by the board, shall be final, subject to judicial review under ch. 227. The board shall develop procedures for notice and hearing which shall be promulgated as rules under ch. 227.

36.17(1)(1) An appointment to a position listed in sub. (2) shall be a limited appointment and the appointment shall be at the pleasure of the board. A faculty member who has been granted tenure or a person holding an academic staff appointment under s. 36.15 shall not lose that appointment by accepting a limited appointment.

36.17(2)(2) Limited appointments apply to the following positions: president, provost, vice president, associate vice president, assistant vice president, chancellor, vice chancellor, associate chancellor, assistant chancellor, associate vice chancellor, assistant vice chancellor, college campus dean, secretary of the board, associate secretary of the board, assistant secretary of the board, trust officer and assistant trust officer and such other administrative positions as the board determines at the time of the appointment.

36.1936.19
Other appointments. The board may make or authorize fixed term appointments for student assistants and employees in training, such as residents, interns, post-doctoral fellows or trainees or associates. Appointments made under this section shall not be subject to s. 36.15.

36.2136.21
Termination due to certain budget or program changes. Notwithstanding s. 36.15, the board may, with appropriate notice, terminate any faculty or academic staff appointment when such an action is deemed necessary due to a budget or program decision requiring program discontinuance, curtailment, modification, or redirection. No person may be employed at the institution within 2 years to perform reasonably comparable duties to those of the person whose appointment was terminated without first offering such person a reappointment. The board, after consultation with the faculty and chancellor of each institution, shall adopt procedures to be followed in the event of termination of academic staff under this section and the board may adopt procedures, consistent with s. 36.22, to be followed in the event of termination of faculty under this section and s. 36.22.

36.22(2)(a)(a) The board may, under this section and s. 36.21, with appropriate notice, lay off or terminate any faculty member when such an action is deemed necessary due to a budget or program decision requiring a program change.

36.22(2)(b)(b) Any layoff or termination of a faculty member under par. (a) may be made only in accordance with the provisions of this section and implies the retention of rights indicated in this section. A faculty member who is laid off retains the rights specified in subs. (11) to (16) and a faculty member who is terminated retains the rights specified in subs. (13) and (14).

36.22(2)(c)(c) Nonrenewal of an appointment, regardless of the reason, is not a layoff or termination under this section.

36.22(3)(a)(a) In the case of layoffs of faculty members due to a budget or program decision requiring a program change, layoffs shall follow seniority unless a clear and convincing case is made that program or budget needs dictate other considerations such as the need to maintain diversity of specializations within a department.

36.22(3)(b)(b) The faculty of each institution shall determine the form of seniority that is to be considered. This determination shall be effective uniformly throughout the institution. Seniority may be defined in the following, or in other, ways:

36.22(3)(b)1.1. Without regard to rank, with seniority established by total years of service in the institution.

36.22(3)(b)2.2. By rank, and within rank according to total years of service in the institution.

36.22(3)(b)3.3. By rank, and within rank, according to length of service in the institution at that rank.

36.22(4)(a)(a) Each faculty member who is to be laid off shall receive prompt written notification from the chancellor. Prior to issuing a layoff notification, the chancellor shall offer to consult with, and seek advice from, a faculty committee designated or created by the faculty of the institution.

36.22(4)(b)(b) The notification under par. (a) shall include all of the following:

36.22(4)(b)1.1. A summary of the reasons supporting the need for the layoff.

36.22(4)(b)2.2. A statement of the basis on which the individual position was selected for elimination and one of the following:

36.22(4)(b)2.a.a. If the position was selected for elimination on the basis of seniority, the criterion used and data supporting the choice.

36.22(4)(b)2.b.b. If the position was selected for elimination on a basis other than seniority, the data and reasons supporting that choice.

36.22(4)(b)3.3. A statement of the date on which the layoff is to be effective.

36.22(4)(b)4.4. A copy of the statutes regarding layoff of faculty due to a budget or program decision requiring a program change and such other information or procedural regulations as the chancellor deems appropriate.

36.22(5)(c)(c) Acceptance of either option under par. (b) terminates the faculty member's association with the system at the end of the leave period.

36.22(6)(6)Faculty hearing committee. The faculty of each institution shall establish a committee or designate an existing committee to serve as a hearing committee for the purposes of this section. The committee shall consist of faculty members of the institution chosen by the faculty in a manner to be determined by the faculty. This standing faculty committee shall conduct the hearing, make a verbatim record of the hearing, prepare a summary of the evidence, and transmit the record and summary along with its recommended findings of law and decision to the board.

36.22(7)(a)(a) A faculty member who has been notified of layoff is entitled to a hearing before the faculty hearing committee as to the appropriateness of the decision to lay off that particular individual. The budget or program decisions made to discontinue, curtail, modify, or redirect a program are not subject to review in the hearing.

36.22(7)(b)(b) A hearing must be requested within 20 days of the receipt by the faculty member of notification of layoff. The request shall state with particularity the grounds to be relied upon in establishing the impropriety of the decision. Relevant information supplementary to that contained in the notification statement may be requested. The question to be considered in the review is whether one or more of the following improper factors entered into the decision to lay off:

36.22(7)(b)1.1. Conduct, expressions, or beliefs on the faculty member's part that are constitutionally protected, or protected by the principles of academic freedom.

36.22(7)(b)2.2. Factors proscribed by applicable state or federal law regarding fair employment practices.

2015-16 Wisconsin Statutes updated through 2017 Wis. Act 136 and all Supreme Court and Controlled Substances Board Orders effective on or before February 3, 2018. Published and certified under s. 35.18. Changes effective after February 3, 2018 are designated by NOTES. (Published 2-3-18)